Home Grown Life

Sunday, August 09, 2015

Well those hazy days of summer have become filled with a lake vacation, a week of sleep away camp for two of my boys, a few day trips down to the shoreline and the celebrating of our oldest daughter turning 14. In between all of these joyous adventures, life has been filled with what my life as a mother of five mostly consists of- recognizing, anticipating and meeting the needs of my family.

In between, there has been a little toilet training support for our toddler, some small home projects and a look ahead to the upcoming school year (okay, more than a just a look).

This little blog of mine has once again been put on the back burner of my life's priorities. It seems I still have just as much to share, but simply not enough time to blog about those thoughts and realities.

I have lamented over this fact for a while now. I have despaired about the loss of one of my favorite outlets, my opportunity to write and connect with those who are reading my blog and to share some of my photos.

So, in the meantime, I have chosen to spend more time posting on my Instagram account. For me, right now in my life, it is the best way to share a photo, a little vignette about my life or something deeper like my thoughts on a certain aspect of parenting, home education or our current culture.

Monday, July 06, 2015

Another summer has begun. The hazy, humid days of another greatly-welcomed New England summer have arrived and as far as I can see they plan to stick around for the duration of the summer months.

As it happens each year, summer arrives with what I would call mixed emotions. There, of course, is the obvious elation due to the fact that our homeschool year has come to an end and with it the daily narrations, dictation exercises, grammar lessons, math drills and science blocks have also come to a gentle close.

The arrival of this stretch of non-formal academic days comes as a thrill to both teacher and children alike, there is no doubt. Although at the same time there is a sadness, perhaps even a disappointment, that the grand summer we were all so eagerly awaiting isn't as spectacularly spellbinding as we had expected it to be. It's as if with one uniform sigh I can hear my children questioning, "Is this it? Is this summer"? And it is with an equally keen ear that I can also 'hear' their inner voices (yes, I can read my children's minds from time to time) ever-so-begrudgingly begging for more.

It is with a bit of shame that I confess that my children have been half-captured by that worldly frame of mind that convince us humans to expect big things.. exciting things... sweet things on their summer vacations (where did the idea and practice of a summer holiday come from anyhow??). Because after all, it is summer vacation (did I mention that yet!?) and we all know that must mean a steady stream of fun-in-the-sun-ice-cream-everyday-spectacular-wet-and-wild-play-non-stop-pleasure (at least during waking hours) and perhaps even a scandalously late bedtime.

So I'm left with several questions. What is it that my children are in need of this summer to give them a sense of purpose and a bit of recreational enjoyment? (I am shying away from words like fun and pleasure and entertainment here). And also, how can I as their mother-teacher help to retrain their way of thinking and direction of their will in this area of pursuing (mostly) pleasurable things and being sorely disappointed when more is asked of them?

These are indeed big questions!

And because I'm older, more realistic, quite contented to be at home doing beautifully mundane things (on most days), stubbornly resilient to being taken in by the world's messages of what ones' life ought to look life on this day or that day and also because I am maybe (only a tiny bit) wiser than they, I have also found my way to some small answers to these big questions.

I hope to share some of these thoughts this week here on my blog. In fact, I am eager to share what I have only begun to glimpse (and by only, I mean really over the last two or three years). The answers are simple but not always easy. They are inspiring but difficult to implement. And the solutions that our family values could be more likened to giving children their daily spoonful of cod liver oil and less likened to doling out a couple of sugar-laden, fruit-flavored, cartoon-shaped vitamins. The result is often hard to swallow but oh-so much more life giving.

But for now, a few photos from our superbly simple, perfectly sweltering, out-of-doors day from yesterday will be my joy to share.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Poetry. It is one of our most beloved lessons and is often read daily in our home. One of our poetry selections this month is from A Journey Through Time in Verse and Rhyme and has become quite familiar to us after reading it annually over the last few years. It really speaks to what is happening right outside of our window this time of year.

Just today, as we sat at our table working on some math, we watched a blustery gust of wind sweep away what seemed like a whole tree-ful of orange leaves across our front yard. It certainly left our maple emptier and filled our neighborhood with a delightful scattering of autumn color.

Wednesday, October 01, 2014

October begins! There is always a satisfaction
and a little thrill when I am able to turn the calendar page and welcome
a new month. Marking the change of time and the rhythms of the year
with my children is an experience that I take great joy in.

With
the older children now, they know what each month, each season brings.
They know that in autumn the leaves turn from green to gold, crimson and
orange and then fall from the trees. They know that we pick apples each
September and that in October we pick pumpkins and drink apple cider.
They can proficiently state the date each day, both numerically and in
words. They are able to spell all the months, recite little poems about
what each month brings and can place each family member's birthday in
its correct month and day.For the littler ones, the rails are just being
laid. We begin discussing seasons and what each season brings in the way
of weather, activities, clothing and animal life. They learn their
birthday day and month and begin asking how many more days, weeks or
months until it arrives. They begin to anticipate the holidays and feast
days of the Church that come each year and perhaps may venture a guess
at their proper place in the year. And then there are the days of the week. Oh how I
wish that I had a specific day for each household chore like in Little
House or some of the folk stories we read! Monday for washing, Tuesday
for ironing and so on. But alas, I do not. We do however adore reading
these little stories, rhymes and poems about what chores are done on
each day of the week.I suppose it the modern world we have the 'luxury'
of foregoing the rhythm of these chore-days and can clean, bake, shop
and mend on whichever days we feel like doing so!Some of our favorite books for laying down a good foundation of the rhythms of the year are:Around the Year by Elsa BeskowA Journey Through Time in Verse and Rhyme by Heather ThomasA Child's Paradise of Saints by Nun NectariaWe also keep a seasonal book basket in our living
area. I used to keep a larger book crate, but found it to contain too
many books. Now I choose only a few and keep them neatly displayed (with
the cover showing) in a nice little basket.

Each
morning we follow the Scripture readings on our Church calendar and
celebrate the saints commemorated on each day. Oh, and namesdays! Each
child, as well as my husband and I, have a day each year where we
remember the saint we are named after and celebrate. It is just like a
birthday, but even more sacred.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Mixed reviews are often interesting to me. Whether in response to our decision to homeschool, or to the welcoming of our FIVE beautiful children or to some of the smaller details of our life, I am often intrigued about the 'why' and 'where' people's questions come from.

In terms of the smaller details of life, one of the more frequent questions I am asked is why my baby is always (well, almost always) wearing hats.

Some, like my Nana, are beyond pleased by the fact that my infant Cecelia is perpetually donning her bonnet. She is 94 and must know from old-time wisdom that babies should be dressed in layers with bonnets and booties and the whole-nine-yard regardless of the season (hats aren't just for winter).

Others seem to ask why and wonder whether she is too hot with her head covered. These well-intentioned observers seem to ask with a mixture of intrigue and skepticism and are always met with a simple and confident answer.

Babies ought to be wearing hats.

One point that Susan Johnson, MD makes in regard to keeping our children warm is that-

“Warmth is probably one of the greatest gifts we can give our
children, not only the warmth of love, but the physical warmth of their
bodies. Children are developing their bodies especially during the
first seven years of their lives. An infant or a young child will
always feel warm unless they are on the verge of hypothermia because
they have an accelerated metabolic rate. If we don’t provide them with
the layers of cotton and wool to insulate their bodies, then they must
use some of their potential “growth” energy to heat their bodies. This
same energy would be better utilized in further developing their brain, heart, liver, lungs and otherorgans.”

And just think of a small baby with all of that body heat leaving them through their heads! I truly do attempt to live my life judge-free of others and often strive to give others the 'benefit of the doubt', but I have to admit to cringing a bit when I see small children and babies being brought into air-conditioned stores or out in breezy, cool weather with little more that a romper on and a bare head.

Of course I just had to share a few photos of Cecelia this spring in some of her many hats. We have wool, cotton, wool-silk and some blends for her to enjoy. Seeing her in these hats makes me feel warm inside knowing that her sense of warmth is being protected.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Last fall for our artist study, we enjoyed the six paintings of Pierre-Auguste Renoir. They were lovely and hung happily on our 'schoolroom' wall for the term along with one of my most favorite quotes from the artist that had to do with the idea that the only real reward for work is the work itself.

Our beloved Charlotte Mason held a similar belief and felt that children should be motivated by a naturally preserved curiosity and a love for learning rather than rewards and grades. She knew then what many modern researchers are now just discovering- that external motivators affect only the exterior, the short-term. To put it bluntly, rewards simply don't work.

This article, Five Reasons to Stop Saying "Good Job!", only confirms what so many others have already discovered. It was with mixed emotions that I read this, feeling simultaneously convicted and confirmed in my own behaviors and tendencies towards praising my children.

The author asks the reader to stop, look and listen and to notice how often we hear the words "good job" spoken from parent to child at almost every turn. I did just that and not only did I sit up and notice how often others around me are blurting out these words (almost unconciously, or as what the author refers to as a 'verbal tic'), but also how often I was turning this phrase in my own home.

I have become more mindful over the years of attempting to hold the space in my home with my presence and gestures and modeling of behaviors instead of issuing commands, praising, and talking, talking, talking at my children. This has been life-changing.

We have been in certain educational settings where children have been rewarded with candy and the like for memorizing facts, Scripture and for simply sitting still. It has never sat well with me and I can honestly say that we do not use these methods in our own homeschool and family life.

Perhaps because I have become so closely knitted to Charlotte Mason's methods of education that I knew better. Perhaps because I grew up in similar environments and it has left me sour towards such behaviors. Or maybe simply because my motherly instinct have told me otherwise.

Nevertheless, the article is worth the read, especially for those with small children. It seems to be that it is with these littlest of littles that we smother the most praise.

Saturday, June 07, 2014

My favorite month, June, is upon us. My love for June has very little to do with that fact that it is my birthday month, and everything to do with what's happening out-of-doors. A quite reliable warmth begins to take over, the sunshine seems to beam just a bit stronger, the sounds of birds and children alike seem to echo in a new way and everywhere I look, flowers, trees and gardens are in bloom.

Since my two little ones, Luca who has just turned four and Cecelia who is six months old, are participants in the seven o'clock bedtime, there is a little time to exhale between dinner and bedtime. Lately, we have been enjoying that sweet morsel of time outside in our backyard.

The scene goes something like this- me laying out a soft, old quilt for baby to roll and play on, Luca filling pail-after-pail of water to mix with our garden dirt to make mud and dip his feet in, peaceful birds landing (and just as quickly flying away from) our fence, and the sun casting a warm shade of golden light onto 'our spot'.

And oh, there are fairy houses. Each night a new one is built. It doesn't take much in the way of materials for Luca to fashion a house to his liking- dried bark from the woodpile, grass clippings, a bit of clover and a golden dandelion for detail. He things they are fancy. He feels proud as he builds them, steps back, and then admires his handiwork. I sit quietly and smile. No praising, just happiness at my little boy's innocence and contentedness in the simple things.

Years ago, my older pair started building fairy houses. I am certain there are books (how-to perhaps) on the details of these magical little dwellings. We never needed them. We simply followed the rule- one can use anything to build the house that is of natural material.

It had been so long since we've been in the fairy house building stage that I had nearly forgotten about them. I'm so pleased that Luca has brought me back to that enchanted period of motherhood again.

A Peek into our HomeGrown Life

Living in New England with my husband and five children. A passion for home education and healthy living. Striving to find beauty in the mundane, dreaming of a homestead life, a spare moment to create and write and seeking to live out my life’s vision with intention and grace each day.